Outside The City

People always seemed to flock to a carnival. It was appealing to spend a night escaping from the real world, in a place where a ticket could pay for you to ride a ferris wheel, get your fortune told, and of course see from freaks. What a fun escape, right? Well, for Lydia this was her everyday life. She'd lived with the carnival since she was fifteen. So long that it seemed that she'd lost all connection with the real world. Well, at least what normal people would call real. For people like her this was the real world, surrounded by other freaks just trying to get from one day to the next. At least here, she had a family. People who at least pretended to care about her, and protected her. And yet here she was sitting in her trailer holding a secret in her hand that she'd keep from all of them.

It was a picture of a baby, her baby to be precise and her name was Amanda. She had her the year that she came to the carnival and she hadn't seen the baby since. Lydia had left her in the care of her sister. She knew she would be safe there, after all her sister had practically raised her. Still, Lydia couldn't help but feel extremely guilty for what she had done. Sometimes she wished things could have been different. She wished that the only thing that would have set her apart was that she was a teenage mother and that she could have raised her daughter in peace. It wasn't safe for Amanda though, not with her. She may care for the others in the carnival but that didn't mean that she would have wanted her daughter here.

What she wanted for her daughter was what she couldn't have, a normal life. Not a life were her body would be used to suit someone else's revenge. Now mind you, this wasn't a complete hit on Samuel. In fact, Lydia cared for Samuel very much and she believed he had his right to revenge. She knew that she would want it if someone had killed her sibling. Sometimes she questioned his approach though. Never out loud of course. It would just be a nagging thought in her head every once and a while. Her power was, well...tricky. It was a hard thing to be able to know a person's secret desires. Sometimes, you found things that you would have never wanted to know and it can be a hard burden to bear. No one could blame Lydia for sometimes not wanting to have to look so deep into the souls of strangers.

That all being said she really did love her home and her family. So why did she feel the need to kid this secret? Maybe one day she would come clean, at least to one of them. But for now, for now she was just going to keep Amanda safe. The last thing she needed was for Samuel to push her on getting her daughter to join them. Hearing a noise outside the trailer Lydia snapped out of her thoughts and hid the picture quickly in her sheets. It was better to be safe than sorry. Besides she had better things to do than just sitting in her trailer feeling guilty. It was the night of the carnival and she had guests to entertain. Luckily she had time before Edgar's act so she didn't really have anywhere specific to be for a while. Her skirt flowing behind her she left her trailer to the hustle and bustle of the night. She was sure there was something or someone she was going to have to attend to soon. These days she never ceased to be busy.

John slowed his car to a stop. In all retrospect, it was a pretty good choice for him to use. A Black 1993 Chevy Impala, new paint job and a coat of wax. The Company sure knew how to outfit him with new equipment. he sighed, suddenly tired out from his previous night's work. He had just managed to catch a shape-shifter that had been eluding The Company for quite some time. Only time would tell if he knew anything important, like where those damn safe houses for the people with abilities was.

John yawned and stretched in his seat, the smooth leather interior making him smile. He was happy that he had chosen this car to use, and was even more pleased that it was now his new Company car, better than the Army, where all you got was a helmet, your gear, and a weapon.

John turned in his seat and opened the dashboard compartment, a stream of silver hitting him in the face like a freight train. He smiled and closed the compartment. The compartment contained his Beretta 9mm pistol with adjusted sight's, but he had other item's in use for this operation. He exited the car, locking it with his brand new key's, smiling at the sight of the beautiful machine, seeing his own reflection in the wax that had been applied.

The Company had heard that there was a carnival of people who possessed abilities, but John had his doubt's. Why weren't they in their safe houses where they belonged? In all honesty, it didn't matter, all the more people to tag and bag. He had been warned this would be dangerous, walking into this place alone. But John had opted to go it alone, rather than taking a regular person along, he could handle himself fine.. It made his cover more convincing.

He stretched his muscle's again, the tip of his Sykes Combat Knife peeking out from the rear waistband of his pant's. He turned abruptly and walked into the carnival, eyes scanning the place as he went, watching for any sign's of danger.

It was just like any other night at the carnival. Lydia would wander through the crowd and help out whoever needed her help. She'd always end up with Edgar at the end though to help him with his knife throwing show. It was actually a fun job. She got to play the lovely assitant while he showed off his skills. Sometimes people would ask her if she was scared but of course he answer was no. She trusted Edgar more than anyone else at the carnival.

For now though she was on her own to wander. Unless Samuel had something else for her to do of course. Lydia tried not to read people as she walked through the crowd. To know the inner most secrets of a stranger wasn't always a good thing. A few things would always slip in here and there though. A boy wishing he could kiss the girl he'd taken here. Usually anything that came to her was happy, and nothing to worry about. But something was wrong, there was something else out there. Something dangerous.

Lydia could sense these bad intentions from a mile away and while she wished she didn't have to know them, she instantly was concerned for her family. So she followed what she was feeling, through the crowd trying to find the man these feelings belonged to. Finally she spotted him, a well built man with blonde hair. She dared not read him anymore just yet, maybe she could warn him away. Then no one would have to get hurt.

"If you're not here to simply enjoy the carnival I suggest you leave." Lydia said coming to walk by his side and speaking so only he could hear her. "This place doesn't take kindly to anyone who might wish it harm."

John was sitting at one of the picnic benche's, drinking a soda, a peering gaze on his face. He was hoping that maybe by some miracle, he could spot something strange about somebody. All he could spot were the normal carnival-folk, knife-thrower, clown act, and so-forth. Where was the danger? Where was the horror he was expecting?

If you're not here to simply enjoy the carnival I suggest you leave." Jonathan turned to the woman who had spoken to him, taking a drink of his soda. She was quite beautiful, but if she knew why he was here, and he hadn't told anyone, how did she know what he had ventured for?

"This place doesn't take kindly to anyone who might wish it harm." Jonathan smirked. He was only here to help the innocent, and yet these folk's supposedly housed murderer's among their worker's. "How do you know that is what i am here for? I am simply making sure that everything is peaceful, and simply take out the bad seed's. I am like you, but i choose to help the world protect it's people, not to watch them die from others who use their talent's for evil."

John turned back to his original sitting position, and took another sip of his drink, hoping that this operation would run smoothly.